Mounting of the bearing unit for a wheel hub in a suspension system of a motor vehicle
AssigneeSistemi Sospensioni S.p.A.
InventorsDavide Barbiero, Michele Clemente
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The outer ring (3) of a motor-vehicle wheel-hub bearing (1) is housed in a cylindrical seat (9) of a strut (10) and is locked axially, on one side of the strut (10), by means of a radially inwardly-projecting rim (18) formed by cold deformation of a tubular portion (17) of the seat (9) and, on the other side, by means of a shoulder (11). A resiliently compressible ring (19) is inserted into the seat (9) of the strut (10) so as to be compressed axially between a lateral surface (12, 13) of the outer ring (3) of the bearing and the shoulder (11) or the deformed rim (18) of the seat (9), respectively, to compensate for any relative thermal expansion between the bearing and the seat.
Claims3
A method of mounting a motor-vehicle wheel-hub bearing, of the type comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a bearing (1) having a radially outer ring (3) with an outer cylindrical surface (8), a first lateral surface (12), and a second lateral surface (13) at the end axially remote from the first,
- (b) providing an axial cylindrical seat (9) which runs between a tubular portion (17) and a shoulder (11) and has an axial length greater than that of the outer cylindrical surface (8) of the ring (3) of the bearing (1),
- (c) force-fitting the outer cylindrical surface (8) of the bearing (1) in the cylindrical seat (9) with radial interference until the first lateral surface (12) of the outer ring (3) is brought into axial abutment against the shoulder (11) so as to leave the tubular portion (17) of the seat (9) projecting beyond the second lateral surface (13) of the ring (3), and
- (d) cold-deforming the tubular portion (17) of the cylindrical seat (9) radially inwardly towards the second lateral surface (13) of the outer ring (3) of the bearing (1) so as to form a deformed rim (18) for locking the bearing (1) axially in the seat (9),
- characterized in that the cold-deformation step (d) is preceded by the step of:
- (c′) inserting, into the cylindrical seat (9), in a position axially adjacent the outer ring (3) of the bearing (1), a ring (19) which can be compressed resiliently in an axial direction, so that, after step (d), the ring (19) is compressed axially between one of the two lateral surfaces (12, 13) of the outer ring (3) of the bearing (1) and the shoulder (11) or the deformed rim (18) of the seat (9), respectively, in order to compensate for any relative thermal expansion between the bearing and the seat.
A bearing unit for a motor-vehicle wheel, of the type in which a bearing (1) with a radially outer ring (3) having a first lateral surface (12) and a second lateral surface (13) axially remote from the first is housed in a cylindrical seat (9), the outer ring (3) of the bearing (1) being locked axially in the seat (9) with the first lateral surface (12) in abutment against a shoulder (11) and with the second lateral surface (13) in abutment against a radially inner rim (18) of the seat (9) formed by cold deformation,
- characterized in that a ring (19) which can be compressed resiliently in an axial direction is inserted into the cylindrical seat (9) so as to be compressed axially between one of the lateral surfaces (12, 13) of the outer ring (3) of the bearing (1) and the shoulder (11) or the deformed rim (18) of the seat (9), respectively, to compensate for any relative thermal expansion between the bearing and the seat.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.